The invention relates generally to furniture and, in particular, to a new recliner apparatus and method for raising the feet of an individual occupying a recliner above the level of his heart.
Recliners have been manufactured by the furniture industry for hundreds of years. For example, the rocking chair acts in part as a recliner and allows its occupant to lean back, or to rock back and forth, around a moving pivot point close to the floor. Many other recliners provide a footrest which pivots upward as the recliner back moves down, leaving the occupant in a substantially supine position.
A new type of recliner raises an occupant's feet above the level of his heart from a fixed semi-reclined position. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,599, the recliner has a chair structure that swings around an axis defined by two pivot points on either side of a supporting frame structure. The components of the chair structure, e.g. back, seat and footrest, remain fixed relative to one another as the chair structure pivots. Thus the entire chair structure swings, but the chair structure itself does not recline.
Objects of the present invention are a recliner apparatus and method in which, in a fully reclined position, the feet of an occupant are raised above his heart. The recliner is simple to manufacture, of reliable construction, and comfortable to the occupant.